April 28, 2002

ALBUQUERQUE - The UNLV baseball team defeated New Mexico 11-4 on Sunday afternoon at Lobo Field. The win improves the Rebels to 24-23 overall, 9-12 in Mountain West Conference play. The Lobos fall to 18-28, 7-14 in league play.

Rebel reliever Jared Bonnell (4-3) picked up the win. He kept New Mexico scoreless in 4.1 innings of work, while striking out three. Starter Giovanni Pupo gave up three runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings of work.

Lobo starter Aaron Smith (1-4) earned the loss. He gave up eight runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings. Only four of the eight runs were earned.

David Trujillo, who has hit five home runs in the last three games, finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs scored. He was hit by a pitch twice in the contest.

Garett Shitanishi and Tony Schuler each went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Schuler hit his second home run of the season.

Robert VanKirk finished the game 2-for-5 with four RBIs and one run scored. He also hit his second homer on the year.

Ryan Ruiz, Joe Wickman and Eric Neilsen also added a pair of hits each.

New Mexico was led by Troy Cairns, who went 3-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored.

The Rebels dropped only one game to the Lobos in the six-game season series and now travel to Provo to take on BYU. The three-game series begins on Thursday at 6 p.m. PST.